//------------------------------//
// 1/25/1001 
// Story: The Unofficial Records of a Mare in Black 
// by the7Saviors 
//------------------------------//

So somehow I was able to squeeze out a few hours of shuteye, so that's good. I didn't even have any nightmares like I thought I was going to, so that's great.

Got some breakfast at a diner Rarity recommended. Run by a mare named Fritter Latte. Fantastic place that serves great waffles and even better coffee. Also found out the mare that runs the place is Donut Joe's younger sister. Small world I guess. Explains the great coffee though. 

Anyway, the point I'm trying to drive home is that my morning was actually pretty relaxing all things considered. I felt normal by the time I reached Rarity's boutique. I would even say I felt pretty good... and then I came back to Rarity's boutique to find the mare being escorted out of the building by an agent from RIDES.

Needless to say, this turned my entire morning upside down. The stallion wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was an agent either. He showed up in more or less the same black suit I usually wore around HQ. What really got me though was the fact that Rarity herself didn't even look all that surprised by the situation.

Once I showed up and flashed my own badge at the stallion I asked Rarity about what in Tartarus was going on. If anypony was going to take her in it should've been me or somepony else from POUT. But no, for some reason it was this pony from an agency that should've had nothing to do with the situation.

He clearly hadn't come here to hit Rarity with the Reflection Deflection spell, so what was up? I asked the agent and got stonewalled which is fair I guess. Our agencies don't really get into each other's business unless the specific situation demands it. I still wanted answers though so I turned to Rarity instead.

Since Rarity had joined me on my mission I was still well within my rights to question her and even bring her back to Canterlot if I wanted. That should've worked to get the RIDES agent out of my hair at least for a bit, but it didn't.

As soon as I made my argument the stallion whipped out a missive from none other than the head honcho of the RIDES agency herself. He just had the thing ready like he knew I was going to fight him on this and the missive itself? Apparently, Rarity's retrieval by RIDES was supposed to take priority over everything else.

The real kicker was that the letter was approved and signed by Princess Celestia. My hooves were effectively tied and I had to give Rarity up. I had my suspicions that there was something going on in the background that I couldn't see, and Celestia's signature made my suspicions a certainty.

RIDES was going to get their grubby hooves on Rarity and there was nothing I could do about it. All I could do was watch her go and that frustrated me to no end because I was being left in the dark again about something I feel I should've known about.

It hit me just as I had that thought, that whatever was going on was probably what Rarity wanted to talk to me about. I could tell from the resigned look and apologetic smile she gave me as she and the other agent passed me by that I was likely on the right track.

I never would have known for sure if Rarity hadn't decided to take things into her own hooves. Just I was left to stand there in front of the boutique stewing in my own frustrations, Rarity suddenly made her way back over to me and dropped a set of keys back into my hooves.

Then she gives me this look and tells me to lock up the shop for her and that I can use the restroom if I need to before I go. Now, I'm not a stupid mare by any means but even if I were as dumb as a bag of bricks I would've been able to pick up on her meaning. 

She did want me to know what was up and for whatever reason, the answer to my questions was in the bathroom? I tried asking her what to do with the keys once I did what she asked but she just told me to hang onto them for now before running back off to the annoyed-looking stallion in the suit.

I watched them go for a bit until they hopped into a waiting taxi carriage. Rarity gave me one last look as they left, but I couldn't really decipher what it meant. It honestly left me a little unnerved but I had other things to take care of so I let the feeling pass.

Once they were gone I went back into the boutique, all the while wondering not for the first time what my life was. I didn't want to waste any more time than I needed to in getting my answers so I made a beeline straight for the bathroom. That was where I found the journal, a simple brown journal a bit thicker than my own just sitting there next to the bathroom sink.

It had no title or markings on the cover and looked old, like something right out of antiquity. Just looking at it I knew it's was what I was supposed to find. Even if Rarity hadn't mentioned anything and I just happened to find it I would've known there was something off about the journal. 

For one thing, it had a sort pull that drew you to it—not in the same way the Nameless Tome did, thank Celestia, but there was still some kind of mental compulsion at work here. For another, the journal just looked... out of place somehow. It stuck out like a sore hoof in a way I couldn't explain. At the same time though, it felt like I was meant to find it, and not just because Rarity was pointing me in the right direction.

No, this thing was giving off all kinds of OOPArt vibes right from the get-go. Now, the proper procedure for collecting a hypnotic or mentally suggestive OOPArt is to magically shore up your mental defenses before approaching anywhere near the object. Done. Wasn't an issue for me.

With that out of the way, I wondered if this was what the RIDES agent was after. And if so, how hadn't he seen it? Did the journal hide itself from him somehow? Was it sentient? What did it even do and why did Rarity have it in the first place? All these questions could have been answered if I just opened the journal, but I was understandably hesitant to do so.

I did eventually end up taking a peek after a bit of waffling on whether I should follow the rest of the onsite containment procedures. Wouldn't you know it though, the journal was completely blank. Not a single page had any writing in it. The only thing I did find was a note from Rarity that fell out when I was flipping through it.

The journal was a massive find in and of itself, but it was Rarity's note that more or less told me what I wanted to know. It essentially contained an apology that things had ended up this way and a brief explanation of what had transpired at the Crystal Mountains from her perspective. I was horrified to find out that what I had gone through was nothing compared to what that poor mare had to endure.

Apparently, Rarity had been forced into a time loop that was reset every time I failed to stop the Umbrum from escaping their dimensional prison. And it seemed that happened far more often than I was comfortable with. Knowing how much she had suffered for my apparent incompetence left me feeling sick to my stomach even now.

It also explained the RIDES agent and why he was taking Rarity back to Canterlot. They probably wanted more details before wiping her memory of the whole thing. In a way, that kind of makes me sad because not only would I not get a chance to apologize for my mistakes, but I also wouldn't get to thank her for what she went through for me and the rest of Equestria.

Even if I was the one to ultimately foil Rabia's plans and destroy the crystal, that mare was the true hero in my eyes. That said, while I've never been a big fan of the reflection deflection spell and its use, I can't deny that wiping her memory might be for the best in this case. Nopony should have to live through what Rarity did.

And it all started because somepony left this journal behind in her boutique. In her note, Rarity explained everything she knew about how the journal worked but she'd been scarce on the details of the supposed customer that ditched the thing. She hadn't even been sure the journal would remain behind when she was taken away.

Well, Rarity, I have it now, and I'm headed back to Canterlot with it. I really wasn't all that worried about the journal reappearing where I least expect it because we have a ton of measures back in the lab that specifically prevent things like that from happening. As long as I keep the journal on me until I get to the lab it shouldn't be an issue.

And even if they were looking for the journal, RIDES shouldn't have any complaints since the OOPArt would've been hoofed over to POUT for proper containment anyway. Still, even with these answers, something still doesn't feel right about all of this. I still feel like I'm missing some very important pieces to the puzzle.

Who was it that left the journal in the first place and why? I can see how Rarity would've realized that she'd inevitably be taken in by one of the agencies. I can also see how RIDES found her so quickly as they have their own methods for sniffing out temporal and dimensional anomalies. That still begs the question of why the Princess personally signed off on the missive though.

The signature of the RIDES Director should have been enough, so why the Princess? Was it because of the overlap in jurisdiction? If that was the case, why did she give priority to RIDES? Come to think of it, why hadn't RIDES detected the use of the journal sooner?

I spent the rest of my time in Manehattan pondering all of these questions and more. I tried using my limited free time to take in the sights of the city, but I couldn't get out of my own head long enough to enjoy anything. In the end, I did manage to find a nice and cozy out-of-the-way food joint for dinner.

Had a nice chat with a country mare who'd moved to the city to work under her aunt and uncle and their produce business. She hadn't said much about her hometown but though she was well-spoken she hadn't quite managed to rid herself of her southern twang entirely. 

She was a nice enough mare but I got the feeling she was scrutinizing me the whole time we were talking. It was like she was trying to decide whether or not she could trust what I was saying. It was subtle enough that I wasn't completely sure and that alone was a bit disconcerting. There was also this strange air of sadness about her, or maybe existential dissatisfaction?

The feeling I got was a lot like what I'd felt from Rarity when I first met her now that I think about it. In any case, we hit it off, exchanged some information (not classified stuff about my job obviously), and I promised to reach out the next time I was in town. Overall the dinner had been a pleasant distraction but it was just that. A distraction.

The ruminations came flooding back in unbidden not long after I left the eatery. They continued on unabated as I headed for the station to catch my train back to Canterlot. They still plague me now as I sit here in my passenger seat writing all of this out. I've read over Rarity's note dozens of times now and thought about just keeping it.

I could always create a copy and turn that over to the head of research. But no, not only could I get in trouble for holding onto what would almost certainly become a classified document, but it wouldn't really do me any good. I was already on thin ice for keeping my own journal and I have no real reason to keep the letter other than sentimentality.

I'll just turn everything in and then get my explanation from the Princess. That'll be good enough for me and then hopefully I can put these qualms to rest finally. I'm actually not sure what my next assignment is supposed to be but hopefully I can talk the Boss into giving me some time off to spend with Spike and Sunset.

Yeah, that would be nice.